EO Tax Journal

1 – Susan Brown to Cross Pennsylvania Avenue to Join IRS

Susan Brown of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Washington, will be joining the IRS as Special Counsel, Office of the Division Counsel/Associate Chief Counsel, Tax Exempt & Government Entities, in June. Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Susan had served in Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy. For Susan, her new office is literally across the street, as she is going from 1111 Pennsylvania Avenue to 1111 Constitution Avenue.

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I did go yesterday to the D.C. Bar program on “Health Care Reform Legislation: What Does It Mean for Exempt Organizations?” that featured Helen Morrison, Deputy Benefits Tax Counsel, Treasury Department, Tom Hyatt, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Washington, and Kathleen Nilles, Holland & Knight, Washington.

The program was in effect two programs, a discussion by Helen Morrison of recent IRS releases, and a discussion by Tom Hyatt and Kathleen Nilles of new section 501(r) of the Code. Since the 501(r) discussion followed Kathleen’s outline closely, I’m reprinting her outline. Following the outline is information on which Helen’s presentation was based. Because the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit is refundable, she noted that it will benefit all qualifying exempt organizations. How EOs will claim the credit has not yet been determined but since it is already effective (2010), she said to expect guidance on this point soon.
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1 – Off to the Land of Oz

2 – More on Nonprofit Pay

3 – Remarks of Commissioner Douglas Shulman to Council on Foundations

I don’t think I am being unfair in saying that this speech, reprinted below, is the kind of speech you give when you want to say nothing — certainly nothing new. It seems to me that this speech was a missed opportunity to say something meaningful to the foundation community.

4 – IRS Releases FAQ on Failure to File Revoctions
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Since Friday’s email update, my mailbox has been overflowing with queries about Nan Downing — who she is, and what EO tax practitioners can expect from the IRS’ new top cop.

I hope to have a transcript of Nan’s remarks on last Thursday in the near future. Unfortunately, Nan speaks softly (but carries a big stick?) and the acoustics weren’t good, so we’ll see if my transcriber can overcome these obstacles. Continue…

Today’s report is from the front lines, so it will be just a few bullet points of what folks from the IRS said on Thursday at Georgetown’s 27th Annual “Representing & Managing Tax-Exempt Organizations” Conference. I hope to have transcripts of some of the more interesting discussions in the weeks and months to come.

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